


Being (in)direct

by BrilliantlyHorrid



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Daisy Johnson is a flawless angel, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fic Exchange, Jeffrey Mace is my weird muse, Office Holiday Parties, Poor insecure Phil Coulson, RST, UST, fancy parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 10:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9178474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantlyHorrid/pseuds/BrilliantlyHorrid
Summary: AKA "Three times Jeffrey Mace was kind of a pain in the ass"Written for the Johnson & Coulson fanworks exchange. Prompt: "Phil Coulson is an unreliable narrator."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift for Stegosaurid, I hope you like it! :)

“Wow, a secret base created in the 40s with decorations from the 80s,” Daisy observed, noting the sheer amount of tinsel she’d seen while random agents began to set up. “That’s a look, I guess.”

“From what I hear the music will be from the 90s,” Coulson said flatly. She couldn’t tell what bothered him more; the prospect of bad music or the party itself.

“Come on, SHIELD didn’t have Christmas parties back in the olden days?” She joked, elbowing him slightly. “Or, well, _after_ -Christmas parties?”

“Oh, they did,” Coulson said, wincing. “And there’s a reason we stopped having them.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow. From his voice, she suspected there were reasons aside from ' _the agency has been infiltrated with Nazis, so sorry, no Secret Santa this year guys!'_

“I bet it got crazy.” She looked up at Jensen, who was standing on a ladder precariously, affixing some garland to a rather tall entryway. “Buttoned-up SHIELD agents letting loose, having a good time?”

Coulson shrugged, and for the first time she wondered if maybe he had been one of those buttoned up agents. She could see it. The buttoned-up part at least; she wasn’t sure she had ever seen the man ‘letting loose.’

Relaxing, maybe. Shoulders dropping and giving in to exhaustion, eyes drooping a bit, forgoing their usual constant alertness. But she just couldn’t visualize Coulson _partying_.

“It could be fun,” she said, and Coulson gave her a skeptical look. Okay, maybe her motives weren’t the most honorable, but they could all use a little break. _Speaking of needing a break…_

“Phil, Agent Johnson,” Mace greeted, heading down the hall in their direction. He was moving quickly, which Daisy suspected meant he was worried they would get away. Which meant she probably wouldn’t like what he had to say.

“Jeffrey,” Coulson greeted, pleasant.

“These decorations are something, huh?” Mace asked, putting his hands on his hips to observe in a way that looked way too posed to be natural.

 _He never turns it off, does he?_ Daisy caught Coulson staring at her and realized she must have been making a face. Schooling her expression, she nodded in agreement.

“They are _something_ ,” she said, and Mace gave her the good old ‘ _ahh, you_!’ point with his finger.

“We dug them out of storage, so they’re a little dated but should do just fine.”

Daisy nodded, shoving her gym bag onto one shoulder. She’d been heading to the gym to meet Yo Yo, so if all he really wanted was to make small talk. “Looking forward to seeing them all in action,” she said, about to step away. The director made a face. _There it is._

“About that,” he said, sounding like he was about to tell her that her goldfish had just died. “I’m afraid something came up, we’re going to need your expertise. Don’t worry though, if everything goes well you should be able to be back before the party ends!”

It wasn’t that Daisy was devastated to miss her first SHIELD holiday party. If it was anything like most other office parties (and she suspected with Mace in charge, it would be exactly that,) it would be kind of funny, mostly awkward and kind of boring.

“What’s the mission?” Coulson asked, and this time he was on the receiving end of Mace’s dead goldfish face.

“I’m sorry Phil, that’s classified, this mission is for Agent Johnson only,” he said, then turned to Daisy. “And a small team for transportation and communications.”

Daisy was intrigued. While Director Mace had respected her ability and interest in working alone when she returned, it was rare for him to actually act on that respect and send her on solo missions. She had missed being with her friends but…

She had her reasons.

Turning to Phil to say goodbye (and maybe request some holiday party details upon her return) she realized he had an odd smile on his face.

“Daisy and I are the same level,” he said, and Daisy realized: this was his _annoyed_ smile. She suspected Jeffrey had seen that one quite a bit. “I don’t see how it could hurt for me to know a few details.”

Maybe it was the fact that he still held some inconsistent authority, or that he didn’t trust Mace enough to let him keep him completely in the dark while she was sent away, but Coulson definitely seemed a little irritated.

“True,” Mace said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “This is level blue, but I’m afraid it falls under Omega Protocol.”

_Inhumans Only._

“And I don’t have the clearance for that.” Coulson nodded briskly. “I guess I’ll leave you to it,” he said to Mace, then turned to Daisy. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring ‘don’t worry’/’sorry about that’ smile, and he actually smiled back, patting her on the shoulder before continuing down the hall.

“Fantastic,” Jeff said cheerfully, directing Daisy in the other direction toward his office. “Let’s get cracking. How do you feel about attending an Inhuman support group?”

Daisy’s eyebrows shot up. “Like undercover?” They’d discussed when she joined up what she was willing to do and what she was not, and spying on Inhumans was decidedly in the “not” pile.

Mace shrugged, holding his office door open for her to get through. “More along the lines of a guest speaker.”

Walking through the door, Daisy sat in the chair opposite his desk. “I’m listening.”

* * *

 

From the back corner of the room, Coulson watched Jeffrey intermittently throughout the evening. Mostly he was just making the rounds, literally trying to have a conversation with _everyone_ , but occasionally he would check his phone, or be approached by another agent speaking to him quietly. Clearly it was mission-related, unless he and Lowe were having a very serious, brief conversation about eggnog.

“It wasn’t a dangerous mission,” Elena said, doing that weird thing where she could guess exactly what he was thinking.

“So he said.”

And he had said it, repeatedly. With great emphasis on the fact that he _knows_ Phil is _concerned_ for _Agent Johnson’s well being._  

He took another sip of his drink, some kind of punch he and Elena had been trying to figure out all night. Mack ‘didn’t do communal alcohol.’

_Which hasn’t stopped him from finding other means._

So yeah, everyone was pretty tipsy.

Realizing Elena had not only continued speaking but slipped into Spanish, Phil tried to keep up.

“I’m not _obsessed,_ ” he objected, and she gave him an unconvinced look before searching for another word.

“ _Preocupado_.”

Coulson let that one slosh around in his brain a little bit. “Fair enough,” he conceded, draining the rest of his punch. “Yuck.” He was just drunk enough to not consider reigning that reaction in. The punch was too sweet. Still.

“And all that for nothing,” Elena said, jerking her chin toward the door.

Sure enough, in walked Daisy, greeting Simmons as she said her goodbyes. Checking his watch casually (though he suspected his current state made it look less than casual) he noted how late it was.

Catching his eye, Daisy waved and excused herself from the others and headed in their direction.

“Oh look, she’s fine, exactly like I’ve been telling you--”

“Please stop.”

“--All night. Daisy,” Yo Yo said warmly, holding up her punch glass as a greeting. “Oh, now he comes over.” Mack raised an eyebrow as he walked over, clapping Daisy on the shoulder.

“Welcome back, Tremors,” he said, and maybe Phil was paranoid but he was pretty sure Daisy knew right then that the three of them were...a bit out of it.

“Hey there,” she said, giving Mack a return pat on the chest and smiling at each of them in turn. “You guys have been having fun.”

As awkward as he felt being found out, Phil couldn’t help but warm at the sight of how thrilled Daisy looked.

“Not this one,” Elena said, pointing a thumb in his direction. “Worrier.”

“I’m not--Hey,” Phil argued (poorly,) but Daisy just smiled at him and he felt okay about it.

“Everything’s fine,” she said, “and it will be better as soon as one of you gets me some of whatever that is.”

“We’ll do it.” Elena grabbed Mack’s arm and steered him away. Looking pointedly at Coulson’s empty glass she raised an eyebrow. “Seconds? Thirds?”

_Thirds? Fourths?_

“I’m good.”

Before letting his other half pull him completely away to get the punch that apparently needed two people to deliver it, Mack reached over to Daisy and patted her on the head. He'd stuck a decently sized gold bow to her hair.

“Good to see you back,” he said before he and Yo Yo wandered off, possibly never to return if that was supposed to be a farewell gesture.

(Daisy didn’t really want that punch anyway, he was sure of it. It was up to no good.)

Turning to Coulson, eyes wide, she seemed to implore him for an explanation to something she couldn’t put into words.

He shrugged. “He tried to put a pair of antlers on me earlier, with the little bells on them?”

Either the image he’d presented or his _slightly_ slurred explanation it came in got a laugh out of her. It was nice to see her relaxed, he didn’t like seeing Daisy worried. And she was worried a lot. So on top of seeing her unharmed, seeing her have a good time made all of his own worrying dissipate for the moment.

“Well, I’m sad I missed that,” she said, looking around the party. “I’m surprised this is still going,” she observed.

“Me too.”

Daisy looked over at him curiously. “I’m detecting a Meaningful Tone,” she said, and Phil just shrugged.

“I think the director has put a lot of effort into keeping people around,” he answered, nodding toward the door. There stood Mace in front of a captive audience, almost literally. He was the director, it wasn’t like they could just walk away from one of his stories (even if this was, as he said a Completely Non-mandatory, Casual, Fun Event.)

“Oh,” she said, her nose wrinkling a bit. “I guess that was nice of him.”

“He’s not that bad,” Phil said, and even to him it sounded familiar. I.e, rehearsed. He meant it though. “He just wants to be liked.”

“Well, then he should cut back on the overly-upbeat propaganda,” she said, gesturing to a poster behind them depicting a row of cheerful SHIELD scientists under a bold banner proclaiming ‘ _TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK_.’

Phil frowned distastefully. Yeah he wasn’t a fan of those either.

“I’ll bring it up with him,” he said, nudging her in the side slightly. “I don’t know if you knew this, but I happen to have a very small amount pull around here.”

Daisy grinned, nudging him back. “Oh yeah?”

“There’s my favorite pair!”

Blame it on his slowed reaction time but Phil hadn’t realized how close the director had gotten. Neither had Daisy, apparently, as she jumped slightly.

“How’s my dynamic duo doing? Enjoying the party?” He looked up at the top of Daisy’s head. “Great bow, really suits you.”

Phil and Daisy both narrowed their eyes at him a bit.

“After all, your return to SHIELD really has been a gift. Enjoy the rest of the night! Oh, and some tricksters have been putting up mistletoe in doorways, but just know that it’s absolutely _not_ an official party decoration and cannot be enforced.” He nodded at them both before moving onto the next group of agents. “Hey, great sweater! Very festive.”

“Oh wow, no,” Daisy said, shaking her head.

“Yeah, way over selling it.”

The two of them laughed slightly, and Phil wondered if he should bring up the other odd tidbit of information the director had dropped on them. That would probably be weird, he decided. It had nothing to do with them anyway, so there was no need to bring it up further. It would probably just make her uncomfortable.

“So who do you think is dropping rogue mistletoe in this professional spy organization?”

_Well. Never mind then._

“I’m not making any accusations but one of our spies happens to move at super speed.” Yo Yo had been in a...playful mood, and while he’d hung out with her most of the night that didn’t mean anything considering how fast she moved.

“But does she have access to a ladder? Some of those doorways are pretty high up,” Daisy added, and Coulson raised an eyebrow.

“You seem to have put a lot of thought into this.”

Daisy didn’t answer, just laughed and elbowed him in the side again. She’d been touching him a lot, Phil realized, then was immediately embarrassed by the thought.

_It’s true though._

Was it out of the ordinary? Or was it just more noticeable because she’d been gone for so long?

“Well, I don’t think Elena is coming back with that punch so I’m probably going to crash now,” Daisy said, stretching her arms over her head and yawning.

“The punch wasn’t that good anyway,” Coulson said. She gave him a critical look. “There weren’t many other options,” he objected, and Daisy rolled her eyes.

“Come on, his back is turned we can probably escape now.” They both made their way to the door, through a much thinner crowd before making it home free into the hallway. “Did I miss any drama?”

“Not really, did I?” That wasn’t a fair question, Coulson knew, but it just came out. “That was a joke, a bad one, I know you can’t say anything.”

Next to him Daisy was quiet as she walked, and he hoped he hadn’t upset her too much and undone all of the good of the day.

“You know I would tell you if I could--” She began, but Phil shook his head.

“I know you would, because you’ve tried before,” he reminded her. She _really_ did not like the restriction of information, and had tried to defy it multiple times. The only reason she hadn’t told him about her day already was probably just because he had insisted (begged, really,) that she follow the rules unless someone was in mortal danger. Or just danger.

If Daisy wanted to leave SHIELD, he would support her. But he wasn’t going to let her get kicked out over a technicality. Like serial confidentiality breaches.

“If you think it’s something I need to know and can back you up on, you can tell me, but if it’s just because I’m human then--”

Phil paused, distracted by the strangest noise that had come from Daisy’s face. She covered her nose, vaguely embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said, laughing behind her hand. “I just, what are our lives?”

He must have looked as confused as he felt, because Daisy elaborated.

“There’s information you can’t know because you’re a _human_ ,” she said, stopping in place. “Like, that’s written in a rule book somewhere.”

It was a pretty strange world they were living in, with strange, strange rules. A slight pressure on the top of his head drew him out of that thought. Daisy was reaching up, carefully sticking her bow to his hair.

“There,” she said, looking up briefly before apparently deciding _something_ , too quickly for him to react. Her lips were pressed to his cheek then gone, and she was saying “Good night, Coulson” and shutting the door to her bunk.

Phil looked up, confused, before walking to his own room. He’d expected to see some of that errant mistletoe above their heads, but there was none to be found. 

In a slight daze he attributed to his (much faded) buzz, Coulson trudged back to his own room. She was just being nice, for the holidays, he decided. He plucked the bow off of his head carefully, not wanting to crush the delicate ribbon. And _that_ was an accident, he concluded, finally reaching his bunk. She had clearly aimed for his cheek and missed, miscalculated enough to just barely touch the corner of his mouth. That was the easiest answer, and it wasn’t as though he could ask her _what did you mean by that_ , when it would only embarrass her.

It was just a silly mistake.


	2. Chapter 2

“Just the man I was looking for!”

Phil winced, wiping the pained expression away before turning to face his boss. “Director, what can I do for you?”

Mace waved him up the stairs to his office, bidding Coulson to follow him inside. He was clearly on his way out soon, to some DC gala where he would be doing some serious 'optics.'

Phase one: _look great in a tux,_ was annoyingly complete.

“Phil I have a favor to ask of you,” he said, putting on a rather nice watch. Phil liked to think _he_ was good at this kind of stuff, had been good at this kind of stuff, but for him it was a bit of a novelty. Playing at the whole secret agent/Bond thing without actually personifying it. But now more than ever he was wondering if Mace’s whole ‘aw shucks’ persona was a fake out.

“If you’re looking for a date I’m afraid I’m under dressed.”

Now looking through a drawer in his desk, Mace didn’t look up but gave him the classic finger point. _Joke approved._

“Not exactly,” he said, looking up. “Agent Mackenzie and Elena Rodriguez just called from the site and said they’ll need another body on the ground. The location is bigger than we thought.” Mack and Yo Yo had told him they would be the acting muscle this evening, and Phil had been a little disappointed he wouldn’t get to see them all dressed up. But if this was going where he thought it was going…

“Now, I know because of your whole…”

“Being dead thing?”

“Yes,” Jeffrey answered, looking just the right amount of regretful, “we can’t have you exactly hanging out for all of Washington to see. Plus there will be cameras--”

“What do you need?” From the tone in his voice, Coulson wasn’t sure he was going to like this plan anymore.

“Well, I had to send MacDonald to meet up with the others, so we’ll need someone to, well, drive.” He said. “And do comms, keep an ear to the ground, playing an active and important role in the evening. Safely away from the press.”

The job wouldn’t annoy him as much if the director wasn’t proposing it like he was asking Phil to be the team mascot. He wasn’t above transportation duties, and while it was a little meta for his taste, chauffeuring his (chosen) replacement Director 2.0 to a fancy event in a fancy tux, who was he to turn it down?

“Happy to help,” Phil said, and Mace smiled, relieved. “Anything to make tonight go smoothly.”

The director smiled, raising an eyebrow. “I’m optimistic,” he said, knocking on the desk with his knuckles. His positivity surprised Coulson, for once. While the director was a chipper guy on the surface, he was also pretty practical, and the goal for the night was pretty ambitious. The press may have been generous as of late about the Inhuman element of SHIELD, but there were still a lot of people to win over who were less than convinced. A lot of really powerful people. And while Mace was charming, that only got you so far.

“Glad to see you’re so positive,” Phil said, and could tell Mace understood his tone.

“Don’t be so worried, Phil, I have a secret weapon.”

Phil was about to ask if he was talking about the tux, but the clicking of heels on the stairs distracted him. Vaguely he wondered about the director’s earlier phrasing. Was there someone else he would be driving?

 

Okay, he hated this.

Maybe hate was a strong word, but if he didn’t feel ridiculous about the job before, Daisy’s face when she realized what he would be doing certainly didn’t help. It wasn’t the cover or task itself that bothered him, he wasn’t a brat. Just…

Behind him, Daisy laughed. Mace was telling one of his stories from early on after his transformation, a much-used icebreaker about accidentally forgetting his newfound strength for a moment and putting a dent in his own car. A young boy nearby had seen, and the flustered future director of SHIELD tried to subtly bribe him by offering to buy him a bike.

It would be kind of creepy or sad coming from anyone else, but from him it was a completely charming story. Dammit.

Daisy, apparently, was the secret weapon Mace was so confident about. And in a way it made sense. While she froze up on cameras a bit, Phil wasn’t sure there was anyone Daisy couldn’t win over. And now that everyone knew going in that she was Inhuman, and the work she had been doing against the Watchdogs was gaining favor in the press, she was sort of unintentionally a national darling.

For the moment.

She more than anyone knew how quick people could turn on her, which was one of the reasons he was surprised she was even doing this. Maybe her face when she saw him wasn’t about his job, but her own.

“Looks like there are cameras by the entrance,” Mace said from over his shoulder, and for the moment Phil didn’t feel as ridiculous about his Undercover Glasses that evening. On the off chance he was in the background of a picture or two, he hopefully wouldn’t warrant a second glance.

Up ahead by the drop off, he saw Mack and Elena waiting for them, both looking fantastic in dark suits. Anyone with eyes knew that Mack cleaned up _good_ , but Elena, with her hands in her pockets and the top two buttons of her crisp white shirt unbuttoned? She looked like she’d never worn anything else.

(Coulson wondered if he was going to be jealous of everyone tonight. Maybe he needed to invest in a new suit. Treat himself.)

Pulling up to the curb, Phil looked back to make sure they could get out okay. Daisy was looking at him strangely, and definitely not for the first time, he found himself a little taken aback at how she looked. Daisy was gorgeous in an unwashed field suit or wrinkly sweats, so it shouldn’t exactly have been a revelation, but all the same he was a little bit speechless.

And staring.

“See you,” she said quickly, before following Jeffrey out to face the flashing cameras. Behind her the car door slammed shut, snapping Phil back to reality.

* * *

 

“Did that go well? I feel like maybe it didn’t go well,” Daisy muttered, catching the eyes of some of the others standing around the same cocktail table.

Mace smiled genially at everyone, then her. “Let’s dance,” he declared, steering her over to the dance floor.

“Oh good, this will make it less weird.”

The director smiled again, but it was clear he was humoring her now. She must have really screwed up. Reaching up, he switched off his comms, gesturing for her to do the same. She did, but made it very clear she did so reluctantly.

“One piece of advice, take it or leave it,” he said, that same fixed smile on his face.

“Don’t bring up fascism in an interview with Entertainment Tonight?”

“I mean, I would save that for CNN, if possible,” he said, and Daisy thought she might have actually amused him, maybe. “But I was going to say, 'don’t walk into a room like you’re ready to take all of the occupants in a fight.' Not everyone is out to get you.”

“Um, actually, they really are,” Daisy retorted. “So I’m pretty sure of the two of us, I’m the only one acting appropriately here.”

Oh sure, maybe everyone was pretending not to see the Inhuman elephant(s) in the ballroom, but Daisy knew. The second she walked in there, it was like dozens of pairs of accusing, frightened eyes staring back at her. And no matter how many smiles or jokes or friendly (highly restrained) shoulder pats Jeffrey administered, it didn’t change that they were seen as either a threat or a freak show.

“Okay, so everyone is out to get us,” the director agreed. “But we won’t get anywhere if no one makes the first move.”

“So I’m just supposed to smile and laugh and talk about _unity_ that doesn’t exist until they decide I’m not scary enough to be afraid of anymore?”

Mace looked at her blankly. “Yes?”

For some reason, maybe the absurdity of the situation as a whole, or the fact that in her early days of SHIELD she secretly longed for a ridiculous glamorous mission like this and now wondered what she possibly could have been thinking, but Daisy had to laugh.

“I know it’s a cruddy position to be in now, but I’m just trying to get our foot in the door,” he explained, quieting down for a moment at a photographer came by to take their picture. Keeping his plastered-on smile that somehow seemed real long after the camera was gone, he continued. “Our job now is to be friendly and approachable, get some leverage that isn’t ‘we could decimate everything in this room’ related.”

Daisy nodded. “Which is why you brought Mack and Elena along.” Looking around the room for her friends, she noticed how many people were looking at them now. But not all of them in the same way as before.

“Needing protection is humanizing,” the director said, absently tapping his fingers on the small of her back.

“Humanizing, right,” Daisy said, feeling a little uneasy. “Us being here, _together_ isn’t a part of that, is it?”

The director looked genuinely surprised, so she hoped that was a good sign. “Oh, gosh no,” he said emphatically, straightening his back a bit. “We’re attending this strictly in a professional capacity, I hope I didn’t--”

Daisy shook her head. “Nope, no, just making sure. Like, I spend enough time online to know that people will probably take it that way anyway--”

“Really?” He asked, and Daisy was seriously wondering if the innocent thing was an act or not. “That would be a breach of SHIELD code; even if we’re both Inhuman I’m still the director, that’s the last kind of publicity we need.”

Daisy frowned slightly. “What do you mean, ‘even if we’re both Inhuman?’ Is there something in the Accords about that?”

Mace shook his head, looking to the corner distractedly. “Not the Accords, no. We had to modify internal SHIELD policy when registration kicked off. Since Inhumans are inherently in a subordinate position--”

_Apart from you._

“--Apart from myself,” he added, noticing what had to be a transparent expression from her, “relationships between Inhumans and SHIELD agents are forbidden.”

“ _Forbidden?_ ” Daisy repeated, incredulous. _Dramatic much?_ “That’s kind of an invasive policy to enforce, what about Inhumans outside SHIELD?”

Mace shrugged. “Ideally, _all_ Inhumans are registered through SHIELD, at least for now.”

_So unless they’re outlaws…_

Daisy would be amused if she wasn’t so furious. But when she looked up to give the director a piece of her mind, cameras or no, she realized she no longer had his attention.

* * *

 “Agent--” Mace stopped himself. “Agent,” he said, waving him over. Phil approached warily, feeling a bit out of place.

“Your comms went off,” Coulson explained to the two of them, who obviously looked perfect and...yes, inhuman. “Yo Yo said she didn’t have eyes on you.” On a whim, he looked to the back of the room, and could have sworn he saw a long sheet of dark hair disappear around a column.

“Must have been a malfunction,” Mace said smoothly, then looked over across the room. “I actually see someone I need to speak to, do you two mind?” Assuming he meant simply leaving them, Phil shook his head, but then the director was putting Daisy’s hand in his and wandering off and suddenly he wasn’t sure why he came in here in the first place.

 _Because Elena Rodriguez is a mastermind, that’s why._ He declined to analyze her motives as Daisy stared at him with that strange look again. Deciding that dancing was actually less awkward than standing there, holding her hand, Phil held the other up questioningly. Daisy nodded, and he placed it--professionally--at her waist.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Coulson said, admittedly not the best first line when starting a dance. Daisy smiled a little bit, but he could tell something was wrong. “Everything okay?”

Seeming to snap out of it a bit Daisy nodded, a little too enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” she said. “The photographer came and went, so your secret should be fine for now, Clark.”

Phil looked at her, confused.

“Kent? Because, the glasses?” She lifted a hand from his shoulder and tapped the side of them lightly. “I don’t think anyone will discover your real identity.”

“Oh, right,” he said, then made a face. “Because _I’m_ Superman?”

He’d had a lot of time in the car, listening to comms, chatting with Mack and Elena when the others went quiet. Time to _not_ be totally insecure. Apparently he needed a little more.

Daisy tilted her head a bit. “I could see it,” she said, and he could swear she was focusing in on his chin or something. He had a strange urge to cover it up.

“I think Jeffrey would be a more suitable candidate for that role,” he answered instead.

_Great job masking that insecurity._

Daisy’s expression grew slightly distasteful. “What, has he not grown on you yet?” Phil asked, hoping that he didn’t sound as hopeful as he thought he might.

“He’s fine.”

Now he _knew_ something was wrong.

“What did he do?”

“Did you know about the rule?” She asked suddenly, and Coulson honestly had no idea what she was talking about.

“Could you be a bit more specific?”

Daisy sighed. “The new one.”

He looked at her a little helplessly. “Daisy, there are a lot of new rules since you left, I’m not--”

“The one about SHIELD agents being forbidden from dating Inhumans,” she interrupted, and Phil’s eyes widened slightly.

“ _Forbidden?_ ”

Daisy nodded, looking agitated. “Did you know about it?”

Feeling a bit guilty, Coulson shrugged. “I didn’t know that was the verbiage he went with, but--”

“You did know,” Daisy said, clearly upset. “Why would you let him do that? Do you realize how messed up that is?”

“Of course I do,” Phil said vehemently. “But Daisy, there’s nothing I can do, he didn’t exactly need my permission when modifying the rule book.”

 _That_ particular rule had, of course, stuck out to him when he discovered it in the early drafts. But the moment Mace explained the reasoning behind it and asked _why_ he was so opposed to it, he had to let it go. It wasn’t as if his input was followed elsewhere, otherwise the whole registration system would be virtually nonexistent. Why was this any different?

 _Why_ was _this any different?_

It was personal, and invasive, certainly, but so was every aspect of the Accords. And really, if he fought against this and not the other related regulations within SHIELD, wouldn’t that just be actively opposing the restrictions that could affect him?

Or, well, _any_ human SHIELD agents?

But of course, now that he thought about it, there was another reason he had to be upset about this, not on his own behalf.

“You’re worried about Mack and Elena,” he said, and Daisy looked up at him sharply.

“Well, yeah,” she said, and he could have sworn she looked a little guilty. But mostly she looked angry.

_At me?_

“Daisy, really, if I had the power to do anything about it, about any of this, I would have,” he said, and could feel his palms getting sweaty. The front of her dress was so high, why was the back so...not? Now she was going to be angry and disgusted.

“Really?” Daisy asked, sounding like she believed him not one bit.

Phil wasn’t sure, but he was beginning to suspect that this wasn’t entirely about Mack and Elena. Or any other SHIELD agents and Inhumans. But that would be-- no, Daisy would be exactly the type of person to worry about the larger effects, the implications behind that kind of rule. Not just any personal stake she might have in it, if she even had one.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and Coulson worried maybe he had started talking out loud. “I’m sorry, you’re right, it’s a terrible rule, and I should have questioned it more but I had just given him the job and the base was totally reorganizing, and you had left, so--”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“I don’t mean-- it didn’t not matter _because_ you were gone...”

Or maybe he should have just let it be, because now she was looking at him like he’d grown a second head.

“ _Kiss her._ ”

And _now_ he was hearing voices.

Specifically Yo Yo’s voice, which reminded Coulson that, while Daisy and Mace had turned off their comms, he was still connected. At least he assumed Daisy’s were still off, given that she didn’t seem to hear Yo Yo’s instructions.

“ _You’re on fire_ ,” Yo Yo’s voice rang out again, followed shortly by Mack’s.

 _“She means you’re going up in flames,”_ Mack corrected.

“Please stop talking.”

Daisy’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you talking to yourself, orrr?” Phil pointed to his ear, wincing, and she nodded, switching her own device back on.

Before he could say anything, Yo Yo spoke again.

“ _Honestly, I call Mack slow. Just kiss her already_!”

“Elena she can hear you.”

_“I can see that.”_

“ _I don’t know what you’re all talking about, but this is extremely unprofessional.”_

Phil and Daisy looked around quickly and spotted Jeffrey with his back turned from a group of other men in tuxes, his finger pressed to his ear, staring at them pointedly.

Eyes wide, Daisy nodded. “Copy that, Jeff. We’re going to take this offline for a minute.”

“ _That’s not what I--”_

Daisy and Coulson both switched off their earpieces.

“We should talk.”

“No kidding?” Daisy asked, and while she still seemed annoyed, there was clearly some amusement there. So Daisy wasn’t totally horrified at the idea of him kissing her. That was...surprising, probably. Not really, if he let himself be honest about it. Letting himself be led away from the dance floor, away from the prying eyes of teammates and SHIELD directors and nearly ALL of Washington, Coulson finally started to consider it as a possibility. Just a few weeks ago he was starting to consider he might never see Daisy again, never hear her voice or see that determined look in her eyes he’d missed so much. And now…

“Okay, so do we really have to talk or can we skip that for a little bit?” She asked, pulling him into a mostly empty hallway.

“I think we can--”

Daisy took that as her cue, smart woman that she was, and grabbed him by the lapels, kissing him fiercely. She kissed like she did everything else in life; deeply, passionately and better than anyone else Phil had ever met.

“I didn’t want to be presumptuous,” Phil said, breaking away briefly, but wrapping both hands around her waist. “Or selfish. There are a lot of rules, bad rules--”

Daisy nodded, pulling him back in and accidentally(?) biting at his bottom lip in a way that made everything go fuzzy for a second. She nearly knocked the glasses off of his face.

Palming her hips he let her push him back against a wall, where something was digging into his back. A light switch, maybe? He didn’t really care.

The world flashed white for a second, and at first he thought it might be because of the way Daisy was pressing herself against him, but then the click of a camera snapped him out of it.

“Whoops.”


	3. Epilogue

Director Mace clicked his mouse aggressively, gesturing to the projection screen in his office. There they were, locked in an embrace, faces red and, in Phil’s case, glasses askew.

“ _Extremely_ unprofessional,” Jeffrey said, looking upset. “We’re lucky that photographer was willing to exchange their silence and _every_ copy of this photo for an exclusive photo shoot, do you have any idea what could have happened?”

“Well it would definitely put any rumors about you and me to rest,” Daisy said lightly, and Coulson crossed his arms.

 _And what would be so bad about that?_ The petty part of him wanted to ask. But they needed to be nice. Clearly Mace was having a bad day.

The director pointed at Daisy, but it wasn’t his usual jovial gesture. “Not funny.”

“We’re sorry,” Coulson said, holding up his hands. “It won’t happen again.” Feeling Daisy looking at him sharply out of the corner of his eye, he clarified: “On camera. We’ll be discreet.”

“Oh, no you won’t,” Mace said, shaking his head.

Daisy shrugged. "I mean, if you insist, we can be not-discreet too."

“This?” Mace asked, pointing between the two of them.“Is over. Finished. You both know the rules. As do Mack and Elena, who are coming here for a _reminder_ shortly.”

_Oh, he shouldn’t have done that._

Now that Daisy knew Phil returned her feelings--a concern that blew his mind still, to be honest-- she wasn’t as worried about the two of them. But threatening Mack and Yo Yo?

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Daisy said, leaning forward and placing both of her palms on Mace’s desk. “We’re going to take another look at that rule book, with a committee made up of an even number of human and Inhuman contributors. Then we’ll decide what stays, and what is _over_.”

Mace’s frown didn’t budge.

“Public opinion is up,” Daisy said, gesturing to the screen. “Look at the headlines, whatever tricks you played last night worked. Why squander all that good PR with a heartbreaking story about SHIELD not letting Quake be with the person she loves?”

Phil wasn’t sure how to react. On the one hand, he really didn’t want Daisy to get kicked out of SHIELD, not when she was so clearly going to play a big part in improving it. And she was really going there, if she was threatening to leak a story to the press.

On the other hand, she just said that she loved him. Albeit in third person, to someone else.

Mace pursed his lips, clearly frustrated. “I don’t know what you want me to do here,” he said, shoulders slumping a bit.

“Just hear me out. This needs to be open to discussion. The Sokovia Accords have passed, registration is here. Now let SHIELD be the first place where we start see what works and what doesn’t. Maybe I’m biased, but I don’t think banning relationships based on DNA works.”

“SHIELD’s job is to track and monitor Inhumans,” Mace reminded her.

“So, give us a pile of paperwork,” Daisy answered, shrugging. “Whatever you need us to sign to know that we’re okay with the people we’re dating knowing our heart rate or general location or whatever.”

Knocking on his desk lightly, Mace seemed to consider it. “Fine, the rule is suspended, _temporarily_ until we refine the processes.”

A smile spread across Daisy’s face. “Thank you,” she said, sincerely. “And while we’re on the topic there are a few other rules I think should be up for discussion too.”

Jeffrey made a slightly helpless noise, looking over at Phil. He just shrugged.

“You know I agree.”

“I know you do,” the director answered, resigned. “Okay fine. Now go, I need to call this photographer and arrange a photo spread.” He pointed at Daisy. “Full field suit.”

Daisy pointed back. “No cheesy poses.”

Mace waved them away, muttering “My poses aren’t cheesy,” just loud enough for them to hear as they walked out of his office.

“You hate paperwork,” Phil reminded Daisy as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah, but I like you,” she said, knocking her shoulder against his.

Pushing his hands in his pockets, Coulson nodded as he walked alongside her. “You like me,” he repeated, “right.”

Daisy stopped walking, enough to let him get a couple steps ahead of her before reaching out and pulling him back by the belt loop.

“Is there a problem, Agent Coulson?” She looked at him mischievously, but seemed a little nervous.

(Which, for someone literally holding another person by the pants, was pretty rich.)

“Not at all,” he said coolly. “I’m just hearing some conflicting reports, wanted to make sure I had my story straight.” She tilted her head, reading his face way too easily. “You know, I heard a rumor about some SHIELD agent who’s completely in love with her, so it sounds like there’s a lot of drama going on over here.”

“You’re right,” she said, beginning to walk again and pulling him along with her before he got the hint and she let go. “I heard one story that she was in love with the director of SHIELD.”

“Really.”

_Funny._

“Yeah, apparently some wires were crossed,” she said, looking casually around them, like she was touring the place for the first time. “They said director of SHIELD, but it was actually this guy who _used_ to be director and gave it up. You know, simple mistake.”

Phil nodded, looking into the lab as they passed. “Sure. Do you think she wishes he was still in charge? Maybe things would be a little easier.”

She snorted. “I don’t think so, rumor has it he was happy to leave the job. Plus, this puts them on more equal footing now.” Looking over at him, she raised an eyebrow. “Like, when he was director, she wouldn’t invite him out to dinner, or to her bunk or anything. He’d probably think that wasn’t appropriate. _If_ he was still director.”

Feeling his heart beating in his throat, Coulson tried to swallow it down. “Sure,” he repeated. “You’re probably right.”

“But as a lowly agent, he wouldn’t be as worried,” she said, “right?”

Coulson nodded. “Most likely.”

Daisy stopped in front of her door, pulling his arm until he was facing her. “This is me inviting you to my bunk,” she said plainly, and Phil laughed.

“Yeah I got that,” he said, leaning in and pressing his lips against hers. They fell back against her door a bit with a surprisingly loud _thud._

Daisy pushed him back softly, letting them both get their balance back. “Also, this is me telling you I love you,” she added, combing her fingers through the short hair behind his ear in a way that sent a shiver through him. “I like you, but also I love you. A lot.”

“That’s a relief,” he said, honestly. Phil had spent so much time pushing the thought away, it was a little too easy to go back to that assumption, that it was all in his head. Luckily, it seemed like Daisy wouldn’t let that happen.

“Okay enough playing hard to get,” Daisy said sarcastically, opening the door behind him in a way that let him basically fall into her room.

“I love you,” Coulson said from his spot on the floor, worried that he hadn’t articulated that clearly enough yet.

“I know.”


End file.
